Rate of change of total column ozone and monsoon rainfall - A co-variation with the variable component of 10.7 cm solar flux during pre-monsoon period

A critical analysis is done on the variation of the rate of change of Total Column Ozone (TCO) over Dum Dum (22° 38 N, 88° 26 E) and Total Monsoon Rainfall over Gangetic West Bengal with the variable component of 10.7 cm solar flux during different seasons for the period 1997- 2005. An anti-correlation is observed between the variable component with the rate of change of TCO during the pre-monsoon and monsoon period and significant positive correlations during the post-monsoon and winter seasons. Quite insignificant positive correlations are observed between the variable component and Total Monsoon Rainfall during different seasons for this period. A co-variation is observed with the increase in the variable component of 10.7 cm solar flux throughout the period of study only during the pre-monsoon season. Possible explanations are also presented.

Noctilucent clouds observed from the UK and Denmark – trends and variations over 43 years

The combined UK/Denmark record of noctilucent cloud (NLC) observations over the period 1964–2006 is analysed. This data set is based on visual observations by professional and voluntary observers, with around 40 observers each year contributing reports. Evidence is found for a significantly longer NLC season, a greater frequency of bright NLC, and a decreased sensitivity to 5-day planetary waves, from 1973–1982, compared to the rest of the time interval. This coincides with a period when the length of the summer season in the stratosphere was also longer (defined by zonal winds at 60° N, 30 hPa). At NLC heights, lower mean temperatures, and/or higher water vapour and/or smaller planetary wave amplitudes could explain these results. The time series of number of NLC nights each year shows a quasi-decadal variation with good anti-correlation with the 10.7 cm solar flux, with a lag of 13–17 months. Using multi-parameter linear fitting, it is found that the solar-cycle and the length of summer in the stratosphere together can explain ~40% of the year-to-year variation in NLC numbers. However, no statistically confidant long-term trend in moderate or bright NLC is found. For NLC displays of moderate or greater intensity, the multi-parameter fit gives a trend of ~0.08 nights (0.35%) per year with a statistical probability of 28% that it is zero, or as high as 0.16 nights (0.7%) per year. There is a significant increasing trend in the number of reports of faint or very faint NLC which is inconsistent with other observations and may be due changes in observing practices.

Solar flux dependence of coherence scales in scintillation patterns produced by ESF irregularities

The coherence scale length, defined as the 50% decorrelation scale length along the magnetic east-west direction, in the ground scintillation pattern obtained at a dip equatorial location, due to scattering of VHF radio waves by equatorial spread F (ESF) irregularities, is calculated, using amplitude scintillation data recorded by two spaced receivers. The average east-west drift of the ground scintillation pattern, during the pre- and post-midnight periods, also calculated from the same observations, shows an almost linear increase with 10.7-cm solar flux. In the present paper the variability of the drift is automatically taken into account in the calculation of the coherence scale length of the ground scintillation pattern. For weak scintillations, the coherence scale depends on the Fresnel scale, which varies with the height of the irregularity layer, and also on the spectral index of the irregularity power spectrum. It is found that for weak scintillations, the coherence scales are much better organized according to the 10.7-cm solar flux, during the pre-midnight period, than during the post-midnight period, with a general trend of coherence scale length increasing with 10.7-cm solar flux except for cases with F 10.7-cm solar flux <100. This indicates that, during the initial phase of ESF irregularity development, the irregularity spectrum does not have much variability while further evolution of the spatial structure in ESF irregularities is controlled by factors other than the solar flux.

Equatorial ionospheric response to the 10.7 cm radio flux over two sunspot cycles (1969−1991)

It is evident that fluctuations in a standard ionospheric parameter, the minimum (virtual) height (h´F) of the equatorial F-region in the African (Ouagadougou), Asian (Manila) and American (Huancayo) longitudinal sectors, closely resemble changes in solar activity as deduced from the 10.7 cm solar flux index (S), over two solar cycles (1969–91). The monthly median hourly value of h´F, particularly in the post-sunset period (18–20 LT), are positively correlated with the monthly average S. The value of h´F can be deduced from an empirical formula: h´F=0.68S+218.3, with the correlation coefficient (r) between h´F and S being 0.78. The diurnal distribution of r during daytime (06–14 LT) was radically different for the African and Asian longitudinal sectors during 1980-1991, with the most pronounced difference in the post-noon period (12–14 LT) when the correlation coefficients r for the Asian and African sectors are 0.8 and 0.2, respectively. Thus, the daytime F-region in the African sector responded far less to changes in solar activity than the Asian F-region during this cycle. This longitudinal anomaly was however absent in the preceding cycle (1969–1979) when the African and Asian sectors were both characterised by low daytime and pronounced post-sunset correlation coefficient r. The American sector appears to have a high correlation coefficient r in daytime increasing to a small maximum in the post-sunset interval. The post-sunset enhancement in r is a characteristic feature for equatorial stations only (corrected geomagnetic latitude <10°).

Solar cycle and seasonal variations in F-region vertical drifts over Kodaikanal, India

Measurements of the changes in phase path of F-region reflections at normal incidence at Kodaikanal (77° 28'E, 10° 14'N, dip 3°N) from February 1991 to February 1993 are used to determine the variation of the equatorial evening F-region vertical drifts (V z) with season, solar and magnetic activity. It is found that on average, at Kodaikanal, the post-sunset peak in Vz(Vzp) is higher in equinox and local winter months than in local summer. The day-to-day variability in V zp is highest in summer and lowest in winter. This seasonal trend persists even on magnetically quiet days (Ap \\leq14). Vzp is found to increase with 10.7 cm solar flux in all three seasons but tends to saturate for large flux values (>230 units) during local summer and winter months. Magnetic activity [represented by Ap as well as the time-weighted accumulations of a p and ap (τ)] does not seem to have any statistically significant effect on Vzp , except during equinoctial months of moderate solar activity, when Vzp decreases as magnetic activity increases.